Chapter 954: Only Three Seconds Needed

The bark bags Wang An made were for holding honey.

Because this kind of pure wild honey isn't liquid; it is stored in the honeycomb, making it a semi-liquid substance. Of course, a very small amount can be solid honey.

The reason some is solid is simply because liquid honey has been naturally air-dried over a long period of time; put simply, it is honey with a longer age.

For such solid honey to be preserved and remain unspoiled is a very difficult feat.

Therefore, collecting wild honey actually just involves gouging the entire honeycomb out of the tree hollow.

Once wild honey is collected, it cannot be eaten unless you chew on it along with the honeycomb.

Thus, the liquid honey commonly seen by people has all been processed to become that way.

Of course, processing wild honey is very simple: it involves the "brute-force squeezing method."

Simply put, you squeeze the honeycomb with all your might; any method of squeezing works, as long as the honey comes out.

If your grip is strong enough, there's nothing wrong with just squeezing it out with your hands.

The common local method is to place the honeycomb on a perforated wooden board, place another wooden board on top of the honeycomb, and finally place a large stone on top of the board.

Basically, after pressing it overnight, the honey in the honeycomb will be squeezed out completely.

Finally, this honey—which contains many honeycomb fragments or other impurities—is filtered through a cotton cloth or gauze, and the job is done.

Honey like this is incredibly delicious, absolutely tasty.

After climbing the tree, Mu Xueli quickly found the small tree hollow where the bees were located. After observing carefully, Mu Xueli stood on a large branch and pulled out the piece of mugwort rope.

After cutting off a piece of the mugwort rope, lighting it, and throwing it into the tree hollow, Mu Xueli waited for the smoke to drive the bees away before shouting down to the bottom of the tree

"Brother-in-law, I found the hive! This hive is actually quite large."

Hearing this, Wang An tilted his head back and shouted

"Can you handle it yourself? Do I need to come up and help you?"

Mu Xueli shouted back from above

"You don't need to come up, I can do it myself. It's just that I reckon this bark bag definitely won't be enough; you guys should probably make two more bags."

Without needing Wang An to tell him, Wang Li pulled out a knife and walked toward a lime tree.

Lime tree bark is known as "thousand-layer bark"; it is soft and flexible, much like thick leather.

Mainly, peeling this stuff is very simple, and the lime tree has a special characteristic: after peeling off a piece of bark, you don't have to worry about the tree dying.

A few minutes later, Mu Xueli noticed that no more bees were flying out of the tree hollow, although the bees around the hollow were unwilling to leave and kept hovering in front of it.

Consequently, Mu Xueli lit the remaining piece of mugwort rope.

After waving the smoking mugwort rope around for a while, the bees hovering at the mouth of the hollow were finally smoked away.

Only then did Mu Xueli wedge the mugwort rope into a Y-shaped small branch, letting it burn and continue to smoke on its own.

Holding the knife and reaching into the smoking tree hollow, Mu Xueli very quickly gouged a sticky piece of honeycomb from the wall of the hollow.

Looking at the golden-yellow honeycomb in hand, Mu Xueli grinned and casually dropped it into the bark bag hanging from the back of the waist.

When withdrawing the hand, feeling the sticky honey, Mu Xueli instinctively put a finger in the mouth.

After smacking the lips a few times, Mu Xueli couldn't help but exclaim softly

"Holy crap, this honey is fucking sweet!"

It must be said that lime honey in this season is absolutely at its freshest, richest, and tastiest time of the year.

Because every July is when the lime trees bloom, and after the honey is secreted by the bees, it only becomes thick and viscous after a period of natural fermentation and air-drying, which is also when it is most delicious.

Honey sold in markets is actually the same; you'll find that honey sold by some shops is quite viscous.

But honey sold by other shops is like rice water—it's a bit sticky, but definitely not thick.

This is the difference between honey that has been stored in a hive for a long time and honey that the bees have just secreted.

The former is certainly more expensive, while the latter is relatively cheaper.

Licking the hand once more, Mu Xueli reached into the tree hollow again.

Soon, the bark bag on Mu Xueli's waist was full. Looking at the crisscrossing branches below, Mu Xueli gave up on the idea of using a rope to lower the bark bag and chose to climb down the tree instead.

As soon as Mu Xueli hit the ground, Wang An and Wang Li crowded around.

Looking at the bark bag full of honeycomb, Wang An said with a beaming face

"Holy crap, you really got a lot! Once it's all squeezed out, won't there be three or four pounds of honey? Is there more inside?"

Hearing this, Mu Xueli said happily

"Yes, there's still quite a lot. I reckon I only gouged out a small area."

Upon hearing this, Wang An said without hesitation

"Alright, you two stay down here. I'll go up and gouge out the rest."

As he spoke, Wang An climbed the large tree even faster than Mu Xueli had.

Watching Wang An quickly climb to where the branches were dense, Mu Xueli couldn't help but remark to Wang Li

"Was Brother-in-law reincarnated from a monkey? Why is he faster at climbing trees than I am?"

Hearing this, Wang Li said with a mischievous grin

"Have you seen that big tree in my Fourth Brother's old courtyard? The tallest one."

Mu Xueli nodded, looking confused

"I'm not blind, I've been there so many times I definitely saw it. What about it?"

Wang Li gestured, pinching his thumb and index finger with his right hand to make a "3" sign, and said very pretentiously

"Three seconds. It only takes my Fourth Brother three seconds to climb that tree."

Mu Xueli was very surprised

"That tree's bark is smooth as a slide; it's actually not easy to climb."

Wang Li said calmly

"Really. That time my uncle wanted to beat my Fourth Brother, I saw with my own eyes that as soon as he came out of the house, he leaped straight up the tree."

Pausing, Wang Li shook his head

"It probably took less than three seconds. Anyway, my uncle chased him out of the house immediately after, but he just couldn't hit him."

Mu Xueli blinked rapidly, completely stunned.

Wang An, who had already begun gouging honeycomb from the tree hollow, could vaguely hear the talking below, but couldn't hear clearly.

If Wang An knew that Wang Li was telling such an embarrassing story about him, he would definitely come down and give him a beating.

(End of Chapter)